The Rise of the Digital Technology 'Meritocracy': Legal Rules and their Impact

For many thousands of years, human beings have used various technologies to record thoughts and ideas. The technology used has, over time, become increasingly complex. Today, we use complex digital technologies such as computers. The increasing complexity of technology requires that individuals have increasingly high levels of skill in using such technology. However, many of the abilities of right holders to use digital technology are no longer related to the use of technology to create works. Increasingly, it is focusing around the ability of individuals to circumvent Digital Rights Management (DRM) mechanisms. Both digital technology and legal rules are the cause of this. A solution to the problem might be for legal rules to turn copyright from a 'negative right not to copy' into a 'positive right to copy'. Adapted from the source document.